Liverpool line up Premier League manager to replace Slot

Liverpool’s FSG ownership have fought tooth and nail to deliver their backing to Arne Slot throughout the season. Not once throughout this turbulent campaign have FSG come close to dismissing the head coach.

But the drop-off has gone beyond stark now. This is a calamity for the Anfield side, who will probably secure Champions League football next season but only after scraping a fifth-place finish in the Premier League.

To say it hasn’t been good enough would be an understatement, and while Mohamed Salah’s recent comments have split opinion, they speak of wider issues that threaten to consume this project.

Whichever side of the fence Liverpool fans sit on, everyone will be in concert regarding the need for improvement. Slot hasn’t been good enough for a while now,

FSG now considering Slot sack at Liverpool

As per TEAMtalk, FSG are finally starting to consider Slot’s position in the dugout, awakening to the overwhelming discontent in Anfield and across Merseyside and Liverpool fans worldwide.

However, all the pointers have previously suggested Slot is safe. After all, Liverpool turned their nose at Xabi Alonso, who has been unemployed since the new year and who has recently been hired by Chelsea, much to the dismay of the Liverpool persuasion.

Alonso isn’t the only good manager on the market, though, and you could say that Salah’s hopes for a return of “heavy metal football” at Anfield would not be secured through the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager’s appointment.

Instead, Liverpool could turn toward another Spanish coach with plenty of recent experience in the Premier League.

TEAMtalk’s report confirms that four names are currently under discussion in the FSG head offices, but it’s outgoing Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola whose name is coming up repeatedly.

It’s understandable. This is a manager who has worked wonders at the Vitality Stadium, taking the sixth-place Cherries and shaping them into a special outfit, challenging Liverpool for a spot in the Champions League next year.

Chelsea had been frontrunners, but they went down a different track. However, Crystal Palace have made Iraola their top summer target in an ambitious ploy, so Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes will need to be quick if he is to prevent another Alonso situation.

Why Iraola would be better for Liverpool than Alonso

In fairness, had Liverpool wanted to go for Alonso, they would have – and he would have picked this Liverpool project over that of Stamford Bridge.

Perhaps they are biding their time. Alonso’s smooth and calculated football is not so different from Slot’s style, and it’s important to note that Liverpool’s head coach has beaten Alonso in each of the past two Champions League campaigns.

Iraola has proven his merit against top coaches, and considering that he brings intensity and energy that simply isn’t there on Merseyside this term, he could prove the better fit than Alonso, who has also been known to favour a three-man backline.

Sky Sports pundit Sam Tighe has even gone as far as to say that he’s “the best young coach in the world”, owing to the remarkable work he has done at Bournemouth, shaping them into European challengers who play some of the most entertaining football in the division.

Iraola has described his football as being akin to “rock and roll” in the past, so while he lacks Alonso’s pedigree and proven track record of delivering titles in Germany, this could be a perfectly suited appointment for Liverpool.

FSG have done exemplary work over the past several years at Liverpool, but the wheels have come off this term. Something needs to give, and while sacking managers is not in this outfit’s DNA, we are bordering on untenable, with Slot at the bitter epicentre of this collapse.

Iraola would. Moreover, he was previously appointed by Hughes at the Vitality Stadium, so there is already a working relationship between the two key parties.

Whether this Spanish boss arrives remains to be seen, but he’s the real deal, proven in the Premier League and with a playing style that better suits the whims of this Anfield persuasion and, perhaps, the identity that is so deeply woven into Liverpool football club.

Salah understands Liverpool, and he has only spoken out – a rare thing – because of his genuine concerns over the direction of Slot’s team.

He’s off this summer, so it’s no skin of his teeth, right? Nope, Salah knows something needs to change, and while Iraola is inexperienced, he has an intense and proactive playing style that could allow him to dovetail right into the team.